Episcopal Church Foundation in West Texas

Dan Butt, the director of the Episcopal Church Foundation in West Texas, gave the report for 2014, saying at the end of the year, the foundation’s total assets were $61.2 million.

The Foundation invests money for about two-thirds of churches in the diocese, and it invests all diocesan endowment funds investment with gains of $2.8 million (4.7%).

“This year the results were disappointing – the markets in general did better than we did,” said Butt.

2014 was a year when the broad markets – both stocks and bonds – outperformed most investment managers who were actively investing. The Foundation uses four model portfolios – those models equate to investment objectives from relatively conservative to moderately aggressive, said Butt.

The Growth Model – where 75% of the churches’ investments are – achieved investment gains of 5%, compared to 5.4% in a peer group in 2014.

Bishop Lillibridge said, “Even though we were a little underperformed , this was the first year in my episcopacy,” said Lillibridge. “There’s a bump every now and then, but Dan is doing a great job.”

As the saying goes, “it happens,” said Butt.

The Foundation handles 199 accounts, of which 144 are for churches, schools, others and total $33.6 million. There were 13 new church accounts in 2014. The Foundation also manages 55 diocesan accounts that total $27.9 million.

The endowment accounts managed for the diocese are used to support the operating budget. This year, 2015, the Foundation will dist $714,000 for the budget, based on a distribution rate of 4.25%. That rate has been gradually reduced. By 2016, it will be 4%.